Potential Nominees Obama May Consider to Fill Antonin Scalia’s Seat

The death of Justice Antonin Scalia in a presidential election year has set up a challenge for President Obama and his legal advisers. They must weigh the best person to put forward, knowing that Republican senators may block that nominee no matter who is chosen. At the same time, if a Democrat prevails in the presidential election, Mr. Obama’s nominee might be confirmed in the Senate’s lame-duck session or would be an obvious front-runner to be renominated by his successor in 2017. Here are six contenders being discussed by close observers of judicial politics.

CURRENT ROLE Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

BACKGROUND White man. Born in Illinois. Attended Harvard Law School and clerked for Justice William J. Brennan Jr., an Eisenhower appointee. A former federal prosecutor and Department of Justice official with a crucial role in overseeing the investigation into the Oklahoma City bombing. Confirmed 76 to 23, in 1997, with 32 Republicans in favor.

DISCUSSION Judge Garland would not excite many liberal Democrats, but he has long been considered a likely Supreme Court nominee if one of the conservative-held seats came open during a Democratic presidency when Republicans controlled the Senate — the situation now. But Mr. Obama may view him as too old; presidents often like to appoint younger justices in the hope of locking down the seat for a longer time.

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Attorney General Kamala D. Harris of California in 2015. She is the first black person, Asian-American and woman to hold the job.CreditJae C. Hong/Associated Press

Kamala D. Harris

AGE 51.

CURRENT ROLE Attorney general, State of California.

BACKGROUND Black and Indian- American woman. Born in California. Attended the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. A longtime state prosecutor.

DISCUSSION Ms. Harris would diversify the Supreme Court, but she is already running to succeed Senator Barbara Boxer, a Democrat who is retiring this year. Because Ms. Harris has a good chance of being elected senator and there is a significant risk that Republicans would block her confirmation to the Supreme Court, she may be unwilling to drop out of the Senate race to become Mr. Obama’s nominee.

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Judge Adalberto J. Jordan, who was born in Havana, Cuba, would be the second Hispanic and first Cuban-American justice on the Supreme Court.CreditMiami Law Review

Adalberto J. Jordan

AGE 54.

CURRENT ROLE Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.

BACKGROUND Hispanic man. Born in Cuba. Attended University of Miami School of Law. Clerked for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, a Reagan appointee. A former federal prosecutor. Appointed to Federal District Court by President Bill Clinton in 1999 and elevated to the appellate court by Mr. Obama in 2012. Confirmed 94 to 5, with 41 Republicans voting in favor.

DISCUSSION Judge Jordan would be the second Hispanic and first Cuban-American justice on the Supreme Court. The White House may calculate that a decision by Republicans to block him could have political consequences in places with sizable Latino voting populations — including his home state of Florida, a swing state in presidential elections, which also has a Senate election this year.

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Jane L. Kelly in Washington in 2013, when she was confirmed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.CreditDiego M. Radzinschi/The National Law Journal

Jane L. Kelly

AGE 51.

CURRENT ROLE Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

BACKGROUND White woman. Born in Indiana. Attended Harvard Law School. Clerked for Judge David R. Hansen of the Eighth Circuit, a Reagan appointee. A longtime public defender in Iowa. Confirmed 96 to 0 in 2013.

DISCUSSION Judge Kelly’s ascent to the appeals court was strongly supported by the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, a Republican. That could improve her chances of making it through early potential bottlenecks: receiving a hearing and an up-or-down vote at the committee level.

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Srikanth Srinivasan on Capitol Hill in 2013. He is a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.CreditDoug Mills/The New York Times

Srikanth Srinivasan

AGE 48.

CURRENT ROLE Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

BACKGROUND Indian-American man. Born in India. Attended Stanford Law School. Clerked for Justice O’Connor. Worked in the Office of the Solicitor General during the George W. Bush and Obama administrations. Confirmed 97 to 0 in 2013.

DISCUSSION Judge Srinivasan would be the first Indian-American justice. He is seen as a moderate and a well-qualified up-and-comer, giving Republicans less justification to block him. At the same time, he might disappoint the liberal wing of the Democratic Party; labor unions were unhappy with the Obama White House for putting him on the appeals court because of the corporate clients he had represented in private practice.

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Paul J. Watford in Washington in 2011 during his confirmation hearing to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.CreditBill Clark/Getty Images

Paul J. Watford

AGE 48.

CURRENT ROLE Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

BACKGROUND African- American man. Born in California. Attended University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law. Clerked for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a Clinton appointee. A former federal prosecutor who represented corporate clients in private practice. Confirmed 61 to 34 in 2012, with nine Republicans voting in favor.

DISCUSSION Judge Watford would be the third African-American justice, and would offer some ideological balance to the court’s only current black jurist, the strongly conservative Justice Clarence Thomas. He is seen as another relatively moderate potential pick because he came up through the law enforcement and corporate litigation world, rather than in work on hot-button social issues.

Correction:

An earlier version of this article referred incorrectly to the number of Republican senators who voted in favor of the confirmation of Adalberto J. Jordan to the United States Court of Appeals. It was 41, not 47.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A12 of the New York edition with the headline: Potential Nominees Obama May Consider to Fill Scalia’s Seat. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe